Herald-Sun

Foraging for dinner is easy _ if you know what to look for By JOEL BURGESS : The (Hendersonville) Times-News Jul 29, 2001 : 12:19 pm ET

BREVARD -- Chew on this: Pine needles are loaded with Vitamin C. Violets, from root to flower, are completely edible.

So are dandelions -- but watch out for the flowers, warned A.B. Marshall, a naturalist with the U.S. Forest Service in the Pisgah National Forest.

"You can eat all of it but be careful with the flowers. Dandelions are also called 'pee-the-beds,"' he explained to a crowd of about 40 children and adults at the Cradle of Forestry Discovery Center recently. The group of mostly children came to learn how to keep from becoming the latest lost-hiker statistic -- and how to keep from floundering if they do wander off the trail and get lost.

Marshall showed which plants you can munch on if necessary -- dandelion flowers, for example, are fine in small doses, but they can heighten urine production in larger quantities.

The hour-long session also contained tips on basic orienteering and how to build an emergency shelter.

"One of the most important things that you can hear is that if you do a lot of hiking out in the woods you stand a chance of getting lost," he said.

Unlike the West, which has expansive tracts of wilderness, the southern Appalachians pose less of a risk to unwitting hikers because roads and towns are usually not far off.

Still, many do spend unplanned nights in the woods.

Brevard Rescue Squad covers some of the most popular sections of Pisgah National Forest. From 1999 to 2000 the squad spent up to 600 hours looking for wayward nature lovers, Chief Vince Stone said.

Besides the about 50 search and rescue operations, the squad strapped on ropes and harnesses 32 times in those three years to pluck hikers off steep mountainsides.

The all-volunteer squad relies on about 40 residents and a $152,000 budget that comes mostly from donations to operate, Stone said.

"One of the key things I wish people would remember is to be prepared," he said. "Bring lights, water. Try to know the terrain. They can always go by the forest service ranger station to get information."

Also letting a someone back home know where you are going and when you expect to be back could save you a cold night shivering in the pines, he said.

When on a trail, look for blaze marks, Marshall said. Each trail has its own distinctive mark. Two different marks, like an orange line and a white triangle, mean two trails are converging.

But even the prepared and wary can run amok, he said.

"If you do get lost, stop. A lot of times we get excited and start walking faster. And people don't walk in straight lines," Marshall said. "Because we all favor one leg, if you're off a trail you'll actually start walking in circles."

Seeing the same landmarks again can cause an already distraught person to panic, he added.

Other tips include:

--Stay on the trail and listen. If you can't hear the group you were with or other people listen for cars -- roads are often nearby.

--Use a whistle to signal for help. If you're with a group agree on signals, like three short blasts, for help, he said.

--Don't wander if nobody comes. Go back to the last place you recognized.

--If worse comes to worse and it looks like you are going to have to hunker down for the night, build an emergency shelter. Keep it near the trail.

--To make a shelter, pick a stick about two feet taller than you are. Lean it a couple of feet off the ground in the fork of a tree or on a rock. Make sure the ground beneath is level and relatively soft. That is where you will be lying.

Lean smaller sticks on either side forming a series of upside-down "V"s. Use a lot of sticks. Then pile on leaves, moss, pine needles.

Marshall, who said he has spent the night under one of these impromptu lean-tos, claims that with a good foot of leaves the structure is actually waterproof.

"You don't want it like a tent. You want it like a sleeping bag so your own body temperature keeps it warm ... and that can save your life."

Theresa Gonzalez, 35, of Cullowhee listened as her son, Sammy, 5, chewed on a sourwood leaf -- one of the edible plants presented by Marshall.

"Lemony," he said.

The family recently moved from West Palm Beach, Fla., and Gonzalez said she wanted to be sure that Sammy and his sister, Emily, 11, would know what to do if they got turned around in the forest.

"We do a lot of hiking. They go up in the woods looking for salamanders, and if they get lost I want to make sure they know what to do," Theresa Gonzalez said.

According to Marshall, Gonzalez's plan could do more than keep her children safe in the woods. The confidence children gain from learning survival skills can pull them through a variety of stressful situations, he said.

Jodi Kiser, 12, of Memphis, Tenn., slapped up an impressive looking lean-to.

Asked whether they would spend the night in the makeshift shelter, Jodi said, "If we had to."

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Answers

I'm not real comfortable with on-the-fly instructions about what is edible. Too likely to get it wrong unless it's a really commonly known plant. Adults in particular are more likely to poison themselves on wild plants than kids because kids are most likely to be cautious about. The adults on the other hand are more likely to arrogantly assume they know what they are doing. Besides, you aren't likely to be lost long enough for food to make a difference. Better to concentrate on water and warmth and not getting any more lost than you already are.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Tried to post here and just not going anywhere.

Anyway, this is a great artivle, but I am like Brooks...I would worry I might eat the wrong thing, as there are many things that Look like one thing, and are actually something else.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Hey Brookes--speaking of daylilies, as you were on another thread, do you remember that piece I did on how all partts of them are edible and actually taste good? I mean, I never had to dig mine up to check it out, but the article SAID they were good :)

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Maybe I wouldn't have to actually eat them. Maybe threatening them would make them behave better?

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001

Ya know Brooks, it might be effective if you were to go to the day lily bed, dig one up and eat it in front of the others, then tell them that if they don't shape up a grow and bloom to your satisfaction that you will continue to eat them.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001